Doyin Abiola, wife of MKO Abiola, dies at 82

The former Managing Director of National Concord, Dr. Doyin Abiola, is dead.

Aged 82, Doyin Abiola was wife of the late business mogul and winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola.

Sources in the family confirmed that Dr Abiola passed away at 9:15pm on Tuesday during an illness.

Dr. Abiola was a the first Nigerian woman to become editor-in-chief of a national daily newspaper.

She earned a degree in English and Drama from the University of Ibadan in 1969 before delving into journalism, beginning her career at Daily Sketch, where she wrote a popular column titled Tiro, focusing on public and gender issues.

She travelled to the United States for postgraduate studies in journalism in 1982 and returned to Nigeria she as a Features Writer at the Daily Times. She rose to the position of Group Features Editor.

She later earned a PhD in Communications and Political Science from New York University in 1979.

She rejoined Daily Times on her return and was appointed to its editorial board, working alongside notable journalists including Stanley Macebuh, Dele Giwa, and Amma Ogan.

She was joined the National Concord as its pioneer daily editor and was later promoted to Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief in 1986.

Her career at National Concord spanned over three decades, during which period she married Chief MKO Abiola in 1981 and stood by him during the turbulent years following the annulment of the June 12 election.

Dr Abiola served the media industry in several capacities.

She chaired the Awards Nominating Panel of the maiden Nigerian Media Merit Award and was a member of the Advisory Council of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences at Ogun State University.

She received the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to journalism and democracy in Nigeria. She was the second woman to receive the honour, after Mrs Omobola Onajide, and was also an Eisenhower Fellow in 1986.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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